NEWARK, Del. – Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team (1-5) staged a furious comeback against Delaware (2-2) but ultimately fell 11-10 on Wednesday night at Delaware Stadium.
 
Monmouth trailed 8-4 at the start of the second half but outscored the Blue Hens 6-3 in the final 30 minutes, including the final four goals of the game. Junior Jenny Staines (Silver Spring, MD/Good Counsel) had an opportunity to tie the game with two shots in the final 48 seconds but the final one was saved by UDel goalie Taylor Carpentier.
 
The comeback attempt was setup by sophomore Allison Turturro's (Sound Beach, NY/Miller Place) back to back goals in the final four minutes, putting the Hawks back 11-10 with 2:17 to play. Junior Alexa Smith (West Hamptonbeach, NY/West Hamptonbeach) led all scorers with four goals on nine shots. Delaware started out on a 5-1 lead which ballooned to 7-2 before the Hawks Nicole Ceraso (Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) and Turturro scored back to back goals to cut the lead to three. The Hens went into the break up four after tallying a Claire D'Antonio goal with three seconds left in the half.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"I'm really proud of the second half effort and sense of urgency we showed. We had a lot of positive things happen today, we just need to make sure we play both halves with the same consistency and discipline so we can come out on top." – Monmouth Head Coach Jordan Trautman
 

• Sophomore Nicole Ceraso, who led the Hawks in 2017 in assists, had a season high three against the Blue Hens
• Monica Cortes had a career-high four ground balls in the contest
• Riley Brager made seven saves in net, Carpentier finished with 12 for Delaware
• The game was first of four consecutive road games for Monmouth, who opened the season with an unprecedented five straight home contests
• Monmouth is now 0-6 all-time against Delaware but the one-goal loss is the closest game in the series between the two

NUMBERS CRUNCH

• The Hawks were just 1-of-5 on free position shots in the contest
• Turturro scored three goals on just four shots
• Monmouth held a 28-24 advantage in shots, with 24 of those coming on net
• The Hens won 14 of the 23 draw controls, with Becky Gohsler winning seven of them
• Monmouth's defensive unit forced 11 caused turnovers, with Kate Ryan and Monica Cortes lead the way with three apiece
   

UP NEXT
Hawks will continue their road swing against Brown on March 10.